I’ve been away from writing for the past few weeks, since I have been consumed by work on my Mother’s recently purchased condo. Her “new” old place was in pretty good condition when we made the decision to purchase. But, there were a few things which needed to be attended to prior to her moving in – you know the stuff that makes it “your own”.
The main thing which needed to be done was a gut job on the master shower. The tile which was there had seen better days and needed to be replaced – otherwise I feared we would really have issues since there were many cracks and I assumed leakage. Of course I was correct, but I get head of myself.
I opted to play “contractor” for the items which needed to be done. This is not something I would recommend for everyone. First, you need to understand the world of renovations. By that I mean, expect that things will not go smoothly and that everything will cost more than you budgeted. Since I have lived through renovating my own home, I had a darn good idea of what I was in for and I had access to the best trades people – masters in their various crafts.
The things which needed to be done included:
• Cleaning – I could do that myself. (Note – I am sorry I opted for this course of action)
• Curtains – I could do this one too – or so I thought.
• Cabinets installed in the room we were calling the Studio – Mom paints (watercolors) and needed more room for supplies.
• Repairs and clean-up for the garage.
• Prepare the patios for tile.
• Redo the master shower.
Here is what happened…..
After five days of living on my knees the tile floor is now clean and sealed. I did manage to hang curtains in the guest bedroom, but we opted to hire out the remainder and install solar shades which will help with the east/west exposure of this desert jewel. Plus I think it would have been a challenge to get shades or curtain from readymade stock to cover the odd sizes we were dealing with.
The cabinets have been purchased and halfway installed. My handyman got some weird fever and was down for the count for three days. When he didn’t show up as agreed, I called and talked with his significant other. Being the nice person I am, I wished him well and asked that he call me when he was better. That didn’t happen. I tracked him down and extracted a promise to return this week to finish the job. They are looking good so far.
The garage is almost finished. There were shelves which needed to be removed, walls to be repaired and floor epoxy to be applied. All of this took days, since each step on the floor had to cure and my painter had other jobs which took his focus for most of each day. We are down to painting the walls. Hopefully this will be done by the end of the week. As mentioned the challenge here was my painter’s full time gig. Oh and his very broken English. But, the man does an outstanding job and has very reasonable rates. Plus he is honest as the day is long…..worth working through the issues.
That leaves the master shower and the patios. The patios have not been touched. They are a staging ground for the work in the shower. It is a wee bit difficult to pull up outdoor carpet when there are bags of thin set, saws and other stuff all over the surface. This may get done by the end of next week – fingers are crossed.
Now to the meat of the reno…. All was going very well, up to the point of starting the actual work. I had tile, plumbing fixtures, tile layer and plumber all lined up. First snag – the cement floor in the shower crumbled during demo. That was a minor hiccup and an extra $250 bucks. Not bad. And it was a good thing to find out now vs. later. It was due to the water seepage over time. Luckily the walls were in good shape.
Next snag – we went to pick up the tile and discovered they had forgotten to order the trim pieces we needed….oops another $200 bucks and five days delay. Being undeterred, my tile layer started on the back wall of the shower….oh no. We are short one (yes only one) piece of tile. That was another $110 and a three day delay. This is where we sit right now – waiting on the tile. All should be on track to start back up tomorrow, but we shall see.
Things you should remember if you attempt playing contractor yourself…..
• Expect the unexpected.
• Things will go wrong and it will take twice as long as you planned.
• Be flexible with your time and the sub’s time.
• There is no sense in getting mad – just be nice and work it out the best you can.
• Make sure you have plenty of your favorite adult beverage on hand – you will need it.
When all is said and done, Mom’s new home will be clean and beautiful for her to move in and that is all that really matters.
